Providence Journal May Be Sold as A.H. Belo Seeks to Raise Cash

Dec. 4 (Bloomberg) -- A.H. Belo Corp. is exploring a sale
of the Providence Journal, its only remaining newspaper outside
of Texas, to raise cash for potential advertising and marketing
acquisitions.

Proceeds from a sale could also go to share repurchases,
the company said today in a statement. Shedding the Providence
Journal, a Rhode Island newspaper that is one of the nation’s
oldest, would also let A.H. Belo executives focus on their home
market of Dallas, the company said.

A.H. Belo is seeking to expand beyond newspapers as
competition from the Internet cuts into advertising revenue. The
publisher sold the Press-Enterprise of Riverside, California,
for $27.3 million last month. Selling the Providence Journal
would leave it with the Dallas Morning News and the Denton
Record-Chronicle, both in north Texas.

To reflect declining revenue and the sale of the California
unit, the company reduced its earnings forecast for the year to
a range of $26 million to $29 million, leaving out interest,
tax, deprecation and amortization. That was down from an earlier
forecast of $37 million to $41 million.